SURREY has overtaken London as the UK’s most expensive place to buy a pint for the first time in 30 year, a survey of the nation's pubs has revealed.

The average price of a pint in Surrey jumped to a whopping £4.40 in the last year, according to a survey by The Good Pub guide.

The average price of a pint in Surrey jumped to a whopping £4.40

This is 20p higher than in London, where the average pint now costs £4.20.

A pint in the Scottish Islands, Hertforshire and Sussex also cost more than £3.80 on average.

At the other end of the scale, Yorkshire and Herefordshire offer bargain boozing with an average cost is £3.31 a pint, up 10p on last year's price.

An average pint also cost less than £3.40 in Shropshire, Derbyshire, Cumbria and Worcestershire.

The survey is compiled from data from more than 850 pubs that feature in the 2018 edition of the Good Pub Guide, which goes on sale today.

Overall, beer lovers face a postcode lottery with a massive £1.09 difference between the cheapest and most expensive pints across the country.

Fiona Stapley, editor of the Good Pub Guide, said London has historically had the most expensive pints, and there are now a lot of craft beers sold there that are upwards of £5 a pint but Surrey has now taken over the top spot.

She said: "It's hard to say exactly why that is but it could be down to affluent people moving out of London in search of the good life within commutable distance.

"The difference in price from the cheapest pint to the most expensive is huge, and that's down to the cost of running pubs in differing parts of the country.

She added that beer prices have gone up all over Britain.

Alamy

The survey shows a massive £1.09 difference between the cheapest and most expensive pints

The Good Pub Guide's annual survey of national drinks prices shows the average price of a pint in Surrey has soared to a whopping £4.40

The figures come as pubs attempt to deal with mounting pressure caused by chancellor Philip Hammond's decision to raise duty on beer by 2p in the 2017 budget – the first increase in five years.

Other factors such as increased wage bills, business rate hikes and the rising costs of raw materials have pushed prices up, the survey said.